In the next few days, the search expanded beyond the surface rubble and down underground. The dogs would be going into the mall, the subways, and any tunnels large enough to fit them. The WTC mall was composed of eighty stores and connected with terminals for...

As Ana and Dusty and Harley worked their way across the Ground Zero rubble piles, I was still in Hawaii, but hadn’t left the condo since the towers collapsed. Meanwhile, the phones at our tiny Ojai office were ringing off the hook. People were clamoring for...

We returned to Sacramento by the end of February 1997. It
would be the final push before I let the birds fly from the nest. We
launched into the full gauntlet of training, holding nothing back. We
restarted the fundamentals with obedience, but with everything kicked up
...

While Ana, Dusty, and Harley checked off FEMA certifications, one other area we were having more and more success with was finding dogs. As word spread of what we were trying to do, I started to get volunteers checking more shelters outside of Ojai in...

In January of 1997, Murphy and I took over a spare bedroom from Rick Lee, a firefighter from Sacramento, and his wife, Luann. Rick was a guided missile when it came to his job; he would lock on target and not stray an inch. He wore his...